Sleepless nights
by xXxRosalottiexXx
Summary: Tony has nightmares from Afghanistan and New York but Steve is there for when he wakes up. Stony. Pepper and Tony were never together in this fic. Established relationship. one-shot.


**Sleepless nights**

**Summery- Tony has nightmares from Afghanistan and Manhattan but Steve is there for when he wakes up. Stony. Pepper and Tony were never together in this fic. Established relationship.**

Boom! The Humvee in front explodes. Panic. That was an SI weapon! Pain. Was he dying? "No." Why did he say that? Can't breathe. Pain. "Yinsen!" Stick to the plan. Dead. His fault. Nuke headed for the city. Only one who can deal with it. One way trip. He's going to die. Too soon. Explosion. No air. Pain. "Tony!" What? "Tony! Wake up!" Who was that? "You're safe!" Why did that voice sound familiar? "Tony!"

Tony awoke gasping for air, his hand clutching the arc reactor protectively. For a brief moment he didn't know where he was, the large room and soft bed unrecognisable. He cleared his mind doing the breathing exercises that Jarvis had recommended when he came back from Afghanistan. It was a few minutes until he remembered where he was and it was then that he noticed the other body in the king sized bed.

Steve looked at him with worry in his eyes, these nightmares occurred most nights and it was always a challenge to wake him up without getting attacked by one of Tony's flailing arms. Hesitantly, he placed an arm around his lover and hoped that Tony was aware of his surroundings. Relieved when the brunette leant into his hold he started to murmur comforting things into his ear that went largely unheard until the smaller man relaxed.

Once Tony had calmed he inwardly berated himself, he had shown weakness again. Starks were meant to be stoic and show no pain or sadness, not break down into their partner's arms just because of a bad dream. That was what Howard had told him anyway, that was what was expected and…

'No!' he scolded himself silently, 'Steve has proven time and time again that he doesn't care about that kind of thing.' And as if proving his point Steve kissed the side of his head and told him softly that it was going to be ok. If with company, this would be the point where he would brush off any concerns with a sarcastic comment and pretend that everything was fine until the matter was dropped but they were alone. Weakness didn't matter here, nothing left this room. Everything discussed here was kept secret.

Encouraging Tony to turn and face him was the next step in Steve's unofficial nightmare ritual. He needed to see how bad the nightmare had affected Tony so he could tell if he needed to stay with the 'silent but comforting presence' or the 'get Jarvis to call Pepper to knock some sense into Tony' presence. He placed feather light kisses on the side on Tony's neck and he could tell that Tony was having the usual internal debate on whether to turn around and accept that he was having a moment of weakness or to just lie still and pretend that everything was ok.

When Tony rolled over Steve had to smile, the vulnerable side always won the argument. He felt privileged that he was one of the few people in Tony's life that were allowed to see him in his most vulnerable state. Wiping the few tears that had congregated in the shorter man's eyes, he knew that he should just keep with the comforting presence and an unbiased listener if Tony wanted to vent. But tonight he just looked exhausted and not up for talking, so Steve gathered the other man in his arms and pulled him into a tight embrace.

The hard presence of the reactor was comforting and helped the blond relax. It was weird to think that he had ever disliked it but once Tony had explained that yes, the reactor was important and no, he wasn't wearing it just because it looked good, the circle of light became a source of great worry and comfort. When in battle Steve was constantly worried that the advanced piece of technology was going to get damaged and his boyfriend would die but it was also a great comfort for when Tony would sometimes collapse in exhaustion the sleepless nights added to the recent battle wearing him out, Steve could be sure that it wasn't because the dreaded pieces of shrapnel were in his heart, tearing apart the muscle and killing him painfully.

The room was silent apart from Tony's laboured breathing and Steve's whispered reassurances. It was about four o'clock in the morning so the room was dark and the small amount of blue light was the only thing that enabled them to see and most of it was trapped against Steve's side. Eventually, Tony's breath evened out and he fell asleep once more to the comforting sound of Steve's steady heartbeat.

Steve smiled, it was one of the easier nights. There were a few where Tony had to stay awake and go down to his lab as he was terrified of sleep, but there were also nights like this where it was only a few minutes until he drifted off to a more peaceful slumber. It was those that Steve preferred as although they were rare they were relaxing and weren't another of the many sleepless nights.


End file.
